Gifts to Inspire Creativity

December 4, 2019November 10, 2020 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

If you have creativity in your life – regular creativity – you know what a gift it is. It’s relaxing – almost like meditating. What better gift this holiday season than the gift of creativity? Here are a variety of gifts that will inspire creativity in your friends and family.

Click any image below to view the Amazon listing details. Please read my disclaimer below.

Art Set

Create a gift set with my “Creative Exploration Book,” favorite sketchpad, sketching pencils, kneaded eraser, and colored pencils. The recipient will be all ready to explore their creativity!

Painting Set

Watercolor is my favorite medium. Combine my “Beginner Watercolor Exploration Guide.” with paints, brushes, a palette, and paper for a great gift!

Clay Kit

This kit is the perfect gift to get someone started in Polymer Clay. I know because it’s the kit I bought when I wanted to give sculpting a try. It comes with a huge variety of colors as well as tools. Sculpting with polymer clay is easy and fun and your creations bake right in the oven!

Block Printing Kit

Block printing is so fun and satisfying. Create one design and print several copies of it! Pair the Speedball block printing kit with Strathmore cards. The Speedball kit even includes ink and Strathmore makes such nice papers!

Screen Printing Kit

I’ve wanted to try screen printing forever. I should add this to my list!

Baking Set

Combine a baking book with pans or accessories. I love to bake and Williams-Sonoma products are some of my favorites!

Cooking Set

Learn from one of the best! We just made a Gordon Ramsey recipe and it was the best Shrimp Scampi we’ve had! And it didn’t take forever to prepare. Combine a recipe book with Gordon Ramsay knives or other cooking accessories for the perfect gift.

Gardening

How about a kit to grow a succulent garden?

Crochet

Combine a “How to Crochet” book with needles and yarn for a unique gift.

Embroidery

An embroidery kit is a great way to introduce someone to embroidery. Everything is included – except maybe scissors. 🙂

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission whenever you buy using these links, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog! Please note: I have NOT used all the items in this post. Please refer to Amazon listings and reviews for specific product details.

Map Making – the100dayproject – the first week

April 9, 2019 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Map making #the100dayproject
I am so glad I decided to commit to #the100dayproject and decided on the theme of illustrated maps. My decision was a bit spur of the moment, but I’m having so much fun. Since I usually paint for at least 15 minutes every morning, it hasn’t been hard to work on the elements for my map. I decided on Fire Island which is a nearby summer vacation island.

Fire Island illustrated map elements

I’ve been to certain parts of the island, including the iconic Fire Island Lighthouse, so I started what I knew. Today I was doing research and learning about other areas of the island and what might represent these areas. It’s a challenge to represent an area, even one you know well. I’d like to do a map of my hometown, but will it be a map of landmarks meaningful to me, or one that is more universal? It’s a hard call. One that I put off by choosing a different location!

I painted the island itself separately and will add the type and map elements in Photoshop. This way I can resize them and move them around as needed. I had to take some liberties with the proportions of the island, because it is very long and thin. To fit it on the page it would have been a single thin line. Instead, I tried to create a perspective shot of the island, focused on the western edge where the lighthouse is.

I’m planning on finishing up this week. Can’t wait to share it. I’ll be moving on to a new and exciting location for the next map!

Want a dose of creative inspiration? Sign up for my newsletter “My Creative Collection” where I feature artists and makers, and link to inspiring art, design, and craft, inspiring places, interesting books, movies, and more. It’s a collection of all the things inspiring me, delivered to your inbox every two weeks. Click here to sign up.

Anniversary Map – the100dayproject

April 1, 2019 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

St. Ignatius Church Long Beach New York Wedding reception illustrated map Pizza fishing illustrations New York City Apartment building | anniversary map unique creative gift Lifeguard chair illustration

Last month I created a map of our important landmarks – our first apt., the church where we got married, the reception, favorite beaches, pizza, where the kids were born. I’ve always aspired to create illustrated maps so for #the100dayproject I am going to work on creating map illustrations. I’m so hesitant to say I’m doing it bc 100 days seems like a long time but I also know that 100 days is the perfect amount of time to hone a skill. I hope you’ll tune in to watch my progress and maybe you’ll be ordering up your own anniversary map towards the end! 🤣

Want a dose of creative inspiration? Sign up for my newsletter “My Creative Collection” where I feature artists and makers, and link to inspiring art, design, and craft, inspiring places, interesting books, movies, and more. It’s a collection of all the things inspiring me delivered to your inbox every two weeks. Click here to sign up.

Unique Gift Ideas for Mom and Grandma

March 31, 2019 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Unique creative gifts for mom and grandma for Mother's Day | personalized gifts for mom and grandmother
It can be so hard to shop for Mom and Grandma. You want to give them something special, but they don’t want anything. Here are some creative ideas to make it easier.

Personalized bracelet. I ordered this bracelet for my mom from Belinda Carmichael on Etsy. It has all of our initials on it. She loves it.
Personalized bracelet for grandma mom | Creative gifts for mother’s day

Ring with birthstones. When I was kid we gave my mom a ring with each of our birthstones – Similar to this one. Now, there are a lot of creative birthstone jewelry options available. Check out the assortment on Etsy here.

Family tree. I personalize this family tree with all your family members, and provide you with a digital file, which you can print at home or send to a printer. Order one in my Etsy shop.
Customizable Family Tree Digital Download Printable | Unique Grandparent Mother's Day gift

Personalize all kinds of stuff with photos or artwork! Sites like Zazzle allow you to upload photos or art and put it on hats, mugs, pillows cards, etc. For a birthday trip we made hats with a picture of my mom on it. They were great! Recently, I took one of my mom’s favorites – an illustration of a girl hugging her mom’s legs – and made it into a card for her. Visit Zazzle.com.

Frame your own artwork or your kid’s artwork. For Christmas I framed an illustration of the house I grew up in at Christmas time and gave it to my mom.
Custom house illustration painting unique gift idea for mom and grandma

Similar frame on Amazon:
Click image to order.

Photos of children or grandchildren. Plan a photo shoot with all the children or grandchildren. For us, it is rare we can assemble everyone, remember to take a photo, and get a decent one. Instead I had everyone send me individual head shots, which I put together in a frame.

Frames on Amazon:
Click image to order.

Basket of her favorite things. My mom loves tea, so a few times I have picked out items in this theme.
Shamrock tea cup basket with Irish family flate

Similar items on Amazon:
Click image to order.

Personalized ring dish. When I take off my jewelry at night I place it in a pretty little dish a friend gave me. A personalized dish would be such as sweet gift. I love this Cherry Blossom “Mom” dish.

Monogram bag with her “name.” One year I gave my mom a L.L. Bean bag with “Nannie” on it to hold all her grandmother essentials – tissues, books, snacks, etc. Isn’t she the best?!

Have you given your mom or grandmother creative gifts? I’d love to hear! Comment below.

This posts contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission whenever you buy using these links, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Want a dose of creative inspiration? Sign up for my newsletter “My Creative Collection” where I feature artists and makers, and link to inspiring art, design, and craft, inspiring places, interesting books, movies, and more. It’s a collection of all the things inspiring me delivered to your inbox every two weeks. Click here to sign up.

Another Swimmer Fabric Print!

January 22, 2019 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

I’m excited to announce another swimmer themed fabric is available in my Spoonflower shop!

“Swim Champs” joins eight other fabric designs in the Swimmer theme, perfect for making a quilt, bag, or any other sewing project for your favorite swimmer!

Click here to visit my Spoonflower shop! Click here to see swim related sewing projects.

Valentine’s Day gifts from watercolor art

January 20, 2018 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

My first countdown to a holiday, with a daily painting/illustration, was back in 2015 when I counted down to Valentine’s Day. I really enjoyed the challenge because for the first day or two you explore the obvious stuff, but as the days go on you dive a little deeper into the theme and get more creative. After experimenting this year with uploading Christmas countdown art on Zazzle for cards and ornaments, I thought it would be fun to upload some of my favorite Valentine’s Day creations. I hope you like them! Click here to visit my Zazzle shop and see them all.

Christmas Countdown 10/25 – Gifts

December 10, 2017 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Christmas Countdown 10/25 - Gifts #christmas #creative
Paint/draw along with me!
Creative prompts for Christmas countdown #Christmas #creative #advent

Have you seen my nutcracker pin? Click here to purchase a Nutcracker pin ($9.00 + shipping) through Paypal.

Want a dose of creative inspiration? Sign up for my newsletter “My Creative Collection” by clicking here. Learn more here.

Have you visited my online shop? Prints of my seascapes are available on watercolor paper or canvas, in many sizes including the new “mini” canvas 11″ x 14″ at shop.eileenmckenna.com. Take a peek! The perfect gift for beach lovers.

Giving my artwork as a gift.

November 23, 2014 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

I’ve been playing around with the idea of giving whimsical house (or door) paintings as hostess gifts (either framed or made into ornaments). I’ve come a long way this year, in terms of my confidence as an artist, but there is something scary about giving my artwork as a gift! Regardless of whether or not I’ll get up the nerve – I’ve started painting. The house is my brother and sister-in-law’s. I definitely want to try another version!